Kansas water park to break down, slide 2 years after the boy’s decapitation

13 July 2018

2 min read

Caleb Schwab, left, was decapitated while riding the Verruckt water slide at Schlitterbahn Kansas City in August 2016.

(AP Images)

The Kansas slide on that 10-year-old boy was beheaded two years ago, will be demolished later this year, officials announced Thursday.

The Schlitterbahn waterpark in Kansas City had made arrangements for the 17-story Verrückt slide to be pulled down after Labor Day, Fox 4 KC reported. The demolition is expected to be completed in about three weeks.

Caleb Schwab died on Aug. 7, 2016, after the raft he was riding went airborne and hit an overhead loop. The ride was immediately shut down. In November of that year, park officials announced that the slide would be dropped after a criminal investigation into Caleb’s death was closed.

Six people have been indicted in connection with Caleb’s death: Jeffrey Henry, the co-owner of the Texas-based Schlitterbahn Waterparks and Resorts; John Schooley, one of the Verruckt slides designers; Tyler Miles, the Kansas City park is the former director of operations; the company that built Verruckt — which means “insane” in German — and two maintenance workers. All the defendants have pleaded not guilty.

Earlier this week, The Kansas City Star reported that four rides at Schlitterbahn Kansas City had remained closed after state auditors found they do not meet the requirements.

The audit found 11 violations of state park regulations, particularly with respect to the track and safety signs. However, a Labor Department document recently, The Star showed two of the rides had maintenance work. The audit also said Schlitterbahn can be no records are displayed indicating the company had a certified weld inspector is looking at a third stage after 5,000 uses, which is required by the manufacturer for a maintenance schedule.

Park spokeswoman Winter Prosapio told The Associated Press in an e-mail that “[t]hree of the four stages needed additional time to address certain administrative matters that the audit findings.” She added that a fourth stage would not open this season because of a pump needed to be replaced.

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